Sri Lanka Holidays

Best beaches of the world: Unawatuna Bay Beach, Sri Lanka

Unawatuna bay Beach was once named "The Best Beach in the World" by Discovery Television Channel

Safe Swimming, Surfing, Snorkeling, Diving Wreck Diving, (year-round), Corals, Trekking

The Beach
The Beach takes no back seat to any other in the world. It is a stunning tropical beach. Five km southeast of VOC Galle Dutch Fort of Sri Lanka is Unawatuna, a small (1km), wide & intimate semi circular bay with its picturesque sweep of golden, pristine beach which is terminated by a shining pure white Buddhist stupa (Dagoba) sitting pretty on a green hill. The Beach is enclosed by headland on the other side too. The entire stretch of beach is well sheltered by a sweep of palm-fringed land right behind it. And well protected too: the beach enclosed by double reef breaks down the impact of the waves of Indian Ocean to make it ideal for safe swimming, snorkeling, scuba diving & even for you to learn surfing. The reef shelters more species of fish than the Great Barrier Reef. It is said by many industry experts to be among the top ten beaches of the world. The reef off the far end of the beach, 150m offshore can be reached from shore & you can even venture into the main waters of the Indian Ocean by traditional twin log like fishing catamaran made solely of timber.

Wreck Dives
Galle seaport, the first landing seaport of the Arabs, the Portuguese, the Dutch & the English being only 5 km away, Unawatuna provides several interesting Wreck Dives too. Lord Nelson, a cargo ship & Rangoon are reachable. Those are only 20-30 minutes away from the beach by boat.

Buddhist Temple
Apart from the beach, the scenery right behind the beach is unlike any other in the world, with the stupa perked on the top of a green hill. Where else can you windsurf while admiring Stupa (Buddhist temple), the epitome of Buddhist architecture? You can stroll up to the dagoba (stupa) on top of the hill.

Trekking & Rumassala Hill
Here is an unexpected bonus for the trekkers too. As if swimming, surfing, diving wouldn't do, you will be strolling over the rocks rising from west end of the beach. The grand rocky outcrop that rises sheer behind the village, on the west end of the beach is legendary. The hill, Rumassala is home to a large collection of medicinal herbs. It sports entertaining gangs of boisterous macaque monkeys. In the great Indian epic, Ramayana, Lord Hanuman, king of the non-human Vanara tribe was sent by India's Lord Rama to Himalayas to fetch a herb to save his brother Lakshmana, who was mortally wounded in their battle against Lanka's King Ravana of non-human tribe "Yaksa". Having failed to identify the plant, Lord Hanuman, rose to occasion & became larger than the problem (with apologies to Sudha Murthy of Infosys - How I taught my Grandmother to read), larger than the life, larger than the herb congested mountainside of Himalayas & ripped off a whole hill & brought it to Lanka. But then in his haste, he managed to drop off a couple of chunks. One is the Rumassala hill, the other being Ritigala hill. Both hills are home to rare plants & herbs: protected areas. The sea bordering Rumassala has the Bona Vista reef, home to some of the best-preserved coral in the island. The summit of the hill provides excellent view across Galle Harbour towards the VOC Galle Dutch Fort. And to inland, the view is enchanting with the sight of Adam's Peak far away.

Jungle Beach
On the other side of the headland is Jungle Beach. With another 45 minutes walk you can reach this Horse saddle shaped bay. Indeed, you can reach there by boat too, if you are unwilling to trek. This jungle beach provides fine snorkeling opportunity.

Unawatuna village was once a suburb where Dutch commanders and Dutch merchants living in Galle built their quiet country residences. The colonial bungalows (villas) built by them & their British successors are instrumental in making the Strand Street a scene to behold.

From Unawatuna to Koggala to Weligama to Mirissa

Beyond Unawatuna
The road runs close to the coast for most of the 23km to Weligama Bay Beach and beyond. Numerous beautiful stretches of beaches with attractive secluded small guest houses & hotels are interspersed with a number of small villages along the coast.

Dalawela
Just 2km ahead, the small village of Dalawela, offers the escape from Modern hustle & bustle of famous Unawatuna to those who seek seclusion. Though located right by the side of the main road, Dalawela is an undeveloped stretch of beach of great charm. As if the lovely beach wouldn't do, Dalawela afford you the joy of natural sea water swimming pools to the boot. Cabanas & small guest houses are right behind the palm fringed beach.

Talpe
The fine beaches continue to picturesque village of Talpe, a short distance east, where a series of upmarket hotels are beginning to open up.

Stilt fishermen
The stretch of coast from Dalawela to Talpe is home to one of Sri Lanka's unique & emblematic beach sights, stilt fisherman. The stilts consist of single pole firmly embedded in the bottom of the sea, close to the shore & a crossbar planted on to the pole on which fishermen sit tight whilst casting their lines into the sea when the tides are flowing right. So abundant is the supply of fish, stilt positions are highly lucrative, highly coveted & passed down from generation to generation.